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Strong bloody violence, some graphic sexual content, language and drug material – all involving teens. Or, at least, 30-year-olds pretending to be teens.
Welcome to Crystal Lake, where the canoes are creaky, the dippin’ is skinny, and the camp activities are to die for. Since 1980, the shah of slashers, Jason Voorhees, has been terrorizing any who are unlucky enough to reach its shores. His murderous method? Anything he can get his naughty paws on, be it machete, harpoon gun or sleeping bag. The original Friday the 13th was one of those no-budget grubby horror flicks with massive returns, secure among the likes of Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The franchise it spawned is a shining, bloody emblem of the golden age of slasher movies, though critics grew less appreciative of the series’ increasingly ludicrous carnage. But the Friday franchise’s memorable soundtrack, frequently tongue-in-cheek atmosphere, and iconic star has kept it in the horror conversation for decades, carrying audiences though 3-D (the third Friday, where Jason first dons the hockey mask), deep space (Jason X), celebrity death matches (Freddy vs. Jason), and utter meltdowns (Jason Goes to Hell).
Wherever this wacky world may take Jason next (therapy, perhaps?), Rotten Tomatoes will be here with this list of every Friday the 13th movie ranked by Tomatometer!
12. Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
Tomatometer: 7%
Audience Score: 42%
Synopsis: The third installment in the Friday the 13th series picks up on the day after the carnage of Part 2, with homicidal maniac Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) stealing some clothes and killing a local store owner. Meanwhile, Chris (Dana Kimmell) and her sometimes boyfriend, Rick (Paul Kratka), are hosting a group of teenage friends at Chris' lake house. Despite a run-in with a local biker gang, they enjoy an amiable weekend together -- that is, until Jason begins knocking off kids and bikers alike.
Critics Consensus: Jason may solidify his iconic wardrobe in this entry, but Friday the 13th Part 3 lacks any other distinguishing features, relying on a tired formula of stab and repeat.
Starring: Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka, Tracie Savage, Richard Brooker
Directed By: Steve Miner
11. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Tomatometer: 11%
Audience Score: 27%
Synopsis: Mass murderer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is resurrected from the bottom of Crystal Lake. After he kills a passing boat's occupants, he stows away on a cruise ship filled with a high-school graduating class bound for New York City. Biology teacher Charles McCulloch (Peter Mark Richman) is on board with his niece, Rennie (Jensen Daggett), who has visions of Jason drowning as a child. They escape his bloody shipboard rampage, but, when Rennie and Charles reach Manhattan, Jason is close by.
Critics Consensus: Jason terrorizes a ship and nearly sinks the franchise in a clunky sequel that feels like self-parody without the charm.
Starring: Jensen Daggett, Scott Reeves, Kane Hodder, Peter Mark Richman
Directed By: Rob Hedden
10. Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Tomatometer: 15%
Audience Score: 24%
Synopsis: After being blown away by a team of FBI agents, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) needs to find a way to overcome certain death. When his bloodied remains are sent to the morgue, his heart, still intact, is able to hypnotize a coroner and take over his body. After brutally dispatching a couple of FBI agents, he heads back to his favorite stomping grounds: Crystal Lake. Jason commences another teen massacre while a bounty hunter (Steven Williams) discovers the only way to kill him.
Critics Consensus: None
Starring: John D. LeMay, Kari Keegan, Kane Hodder, Steven Williams
Directed By: Adam Marcus
9. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Tomatometer: 18%
Audience Score: 26%
Synopsis: Years after Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd) murdered hockey-masked serial killer Jason Voorhees, he resides in a mental hospital and struggles with the trauma of the experience. When Tommy moves to an isolated halfway house, he has nightmares about Jason's return, and soon one of the patients (Dominick Brascia) is killed. As the body count grows, Tommy begins to question his sanity and wonder if Jason has risen from the dead. But, to determine the killer's identity, Tommy will need to survive.
Critics Consensus: None
Starring: John Shepherd, Melanie Kinnaman, Shavar Ross, Richard Young
Directed By: Danny Steinmann
8. Jason X (2002)
Tomatometer: 19%
Audience Score: 25%
Synopsis: The year is 2455. The Place is Old Earth. Once the shimmering blue jewel of the galaxy, Old Earth is now a contaminated planet abandoned for centuries. Yet humans have returned to the deadly place that they once fled. Not to live, but to research the ancient rusting artifacts of the bygone civilizations that caused this environmental disaster. And little does the most recent landing party of intrepid young explorers realize the fate that awaits them.
Critics Consensus: Jason goes to the future, but the story is still stuck in the past.
Starring: Lexa Doig, Lisa Ryder, Chuck Campbell, Jonathan Potts
Directed By: James Isaac
7. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Tomatometer: 24%
Audience Score: 51%
Synopsis: A carefree lakeside vacation is interrupted by the re-emergence of killer Jason Voorhees (Ted White). After he escapes from a morgue, leaving bodies in his wake, Jason travels to Camp Crystal Lake where a group of friends is staying. The teens meet some locals: Tommy (Corey Feldman) and Trish (Kimberly Beck), as well as secretive hiker Rob (Erich Anderson). As the group of teenagers engages in drunken debauchery, their numbers begin to dwindle, and pieces of the past resurface.
Critics Consensus: As lumberingly single-minded as its homicidal star, Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter adds another rote entry to an increasingly labored franchise.
Starring: Kimberly Beck, Peter Barton, Corey Feldman, Crispin Glover
Directed By: Joseph Zito
6. Friday the 13th (2009)
Tomatometer: 25%
Audience Score: 46%
Synopsis: Against the advice of locals and police, Clay (Jared Padalecki) scours the eerie woods surrounding Crystal Lake for his missing sister. But the rotting cabins of an abandoned summer camp are not the only things he finds. Hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees lies in wait for a chance to use his razor-sharp machete on Clay and the group of college students who have come to the forest to party.
Critics Consensus: Though technically well-constructed, Friday the 13th is a series rehash that features little to distinguish it from its predecessors.
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle
Directed By: Marcus Nispel
5. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Tomatometer: 29%
Audience Score: 48%
Synopsis: The second entry in the long-running horror series focuses on a group of teenage would-be counselors converging on Camp Crystal Lake for training under the tutelage of head counselor Paul (John Furey). Inevitably, Paul relates the story of Jason Voorhees (Warrington Gillette), a boy who ostensibly drowned at the camp and whose mother murdered a group of counselors in revenge. No one takes the tale seriously until a very much alive Jason begins gruesomely eliminating people.
Critics Consensus: Friday the 13th Part 2 sets the template for the franchise to follow with more teen victims, more gruesome set pieces, and fewer reasons to keep following along.
Starring: Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Kirsten Baker
Directed By: Steve Miner
4. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Tomatometer: 35%
Audience Score: 37%
Synopsis: Years after the strange drowning death of her father, Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln) returns to the site of his demise, Crystal Lake. Her developing psychic powers were responsible for ending his life, leaving Tina riddled with guilt as an adult. While deceitful Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser) tries to manipulate her abilities for his own ends, both physician and patient are in for a shock when Tina's powers unwittingly free camper-killer Jason Voorhees from his watery slumber.
Critics Consensus: As lumbering and bereft of conscious thought as its unstoppable star, Friday the 13th Part VII - The New Blood finds the franchise in desperate need of the title ingredient.
Starring: Lar Park-Lincoln, Terry Kiser, Susan Blu, Kevin Spirtas
Directed By: John Carl Buechler
3. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Tomatometer: 41%
Audience Score: 50%
Synopsis: Two horror icons face off in this supernatural movie. Disfigured serial killer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), who attacks his victims in their dreams, has lost much of his power since citizens of his town have become less afraid of him. Enlisting the help of fellow violent murderer Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger), Freddy orchestrates a new killing spree. However, when the hockey-mask-wearing psychopath won't stop chopping up Freddy's intended victims, the two ghouls start to battle each other.
Critics Consensus: Fans of the two horror franchises will enjoy this showdown. But for everyone else, it's the same old slice and dice.
Starring: Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Monica Keena, Jason Ritter
Directed By: Ronnie Yu
2. Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Tomatometer: 50%
Audience Score: 53%
Synopsis: Years ago, Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews) killed infamous hockey-masked murderer Jason Voorhees (C.J. Graham), and the intensity of the experience has landed him in a mental institution. To end his torment and achieve a level of closure, Tommy escapes from the hospital and heads to the graveyard where Jason is buried, intending to dig up the body and cremate it. But, before this total annihilation can occur, a freak electrical accident resurrects Jason from the dead, and the terror begins anew.
Critics Consensus: Friday the 13th: Part VI - Jason Lives indeed brings back ol' Vorhees, along with a sense of serviceable braindead fun.
Starring: Thom Mathews, Jennifer Cooke, Ron Palillo, David Kagen
Directed By: Tom McLoughlin
Directed By: Tom McLoughlin
1. Friday the 13th (1980)
Tomatometer: 63%
Audience Score: 60%
Synopsis: Crystal Lake's history of murder doesn't deter counselors from setting up a summer camp in the woodsy area. Superstitious locals warn against it, but the fresh-faced young people -- Jack (Kevin Bacon), Alice (Adrienne King), Bill (Harry Crosby), Marcie (Jeannine Taylor) and Ned (Mark Nelson) -- pay little heed to the old-timers. Then they find themselves stalked by a brutal killer. As they're slashed, shot and stabbed, the counselors struggle to stay alive against a merciless opponent.
Critics Consensus: Rather quaint by today's standards, Friday the 13th still has its share of bloody surprises and a '70s-holdover aesthetic to slightly compel.
Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram
Directed By: Sean S. Cunningham
